KHA members should mark their calendars and plan to attend their district meeting which will be held in March, 2015. All meetings will begin at 9:45 a.m. local time and conclude following lunch at 12:30 p.m. An agenda and registration form will be forthcoming.

On January 22, 2015, there will be a webinar offered on Management of Human Resources Update: Complying with CMS and The Joint Commission Standards. Details on the program's topics, objectives, registration fees and intended target audience are available at the following link. http://www.kyha.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/HumanResStandards.pdf.

On February 5, 2015 there will be a webinar offered on Medical Staff Bylaws Update. Details on the program's topics, objectives, registration fees and intended target audience are available at the following...

To access a copy of the briefing, please visit the Members Only portion of the KHA Website. If you have any questions, please contact Brian Brezosky at KHA (502-426-6220 or 800-945-4542 or via email at bbrezosky@kyha.com).

Please note, the increase in state licensure fees has been approved and will take effect on January 5, 2015. Any hospital that is re-licensed after that date will be subject to the new fees. This will equally impact accredited hospitals as there is now no fee difference between hospitals that get deemed status for licensure and non-accredited hospitals that are inspected.

The new fees, which apply to acute, psychiatric and physical rehabilitation hospitals, are as follows:
Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs): $750 + $25/bed
All other Hospitals: $1,000 + $25/bed
The fee for CAHs represents a reduction from the original proposed fee as a result of KHA comments. Other changes were made in response to KHA comments to assure hospitals would not be threatened with disciplinary action for not producing records that are protected as patient safety work product under the federal Patient Safety and Quality Act when a hospital is participating in a Patient Safety Organization (PSO) such as KHA’s PSO,...

The Kentucky Trustee is a quarterly newsletter that KHA produces for the benefit of hospital boards. The goal is to provide your trustees with information they need to lead your hospital forward in today’s rapidly changing environment. The winter issue of the Kentucky Trustee is now available on the KHA website.

KHA mails the Kentucky Trustee newsletter to all trustees for which the Association has contact information. This is a good time to ensure KHA has your current board members’ addresses. If you have suggestions for future issues of the Kentucky Trustee, please contact Pam Kirchem at KHA (502-426-6220 or 800-945-4542 or via e-mail at pkirchem@kyha.com).

Dressman Benzinger LaVelle PSC (DBL Law) operates one of the premier health law practices in the area, serving as general counsel to hospitals and physician groups around Kentucky and in Cincinnati, Ohio. To learn more, visit www.dbllaw.com.

KHA thanks DBL Law for their bronze level sponsorship. KHA's Annual Sponsorship Program is a great opportunity for organizations looking to build connections and/or establish affiliations or joint ventures with Kentucky's 130 hospitals. To learn more about KHA's Annual Sponsorship Opportunities, please contact Pam Kirchem at KHA (502-426-6220 or 800-945-4542 or via pkirchem@kyha.com).

This morning, KHA submitted a Certificate of Need (CON) comment letter and CON study to the Office of Health Policy. That letter can be found on the KHA Website under the Advocacy Section.

If you have not done so already, KHA encourages you to submit comments today in support of maintaining CON. Comments should be submitted to Diona Mullins via email at Diona.Mullins@ky.gov. Hospitals may wish to craft their own comments, or simply write in support of the KHA comments and study.

If you have any questions, please contact Elizabeth Cobb at KHA (502-426-6220 or 800-945-4542 or via email at ecobb@kyha.com).

KHA has asked MHNet to discuss the changes in criteria at the next meeting with Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) on December 19 at KHA. Hospitals with behavioral health services should review the criteria and either attend, or conference call into the meeting on December 19 with any specific questions about the criteria, or how it will be applied. The meeting will be held at 10:15 a.m. (EST) at the KHA office, or your staff may...

KHA, under advisement of the KHA Certificate of Need Committee (CON) and the KHA Board of Trustees, has undergone a thorough review of the Kentucky CON program. A confidential study, found under the members only section of the KHA Website, was commissioned in response to a memorandum released by the Cabinet requesting comments on modernizing the CON program to support anticipated changes in health care delivery systems as well as questions and criticism in recent years regarding the value of CON. The study was developed through thoughtful research and input from the KHA CON Committee, the KHA Board of Trustees and system leaders. The study represents a balanced approach in consideration of the significant number of comments KHA has received in recent months.